Disposable hypodermic syringes are widely used in hospitals and other medical facilities to draw body fluids from and to inject medications into patients. These syringes are made disposable because of the difficulties and inefficiencies involved in re-sterilizing syringes for reuse. Because the syringes are intended to be disposed of after use, a problem arises as to their safe post-use storage and disposal and in preventing them from being recklessly reused by others. Indeed, in some countries laws prohibit syringes from being disposed of as ordinary waste since their sharp needle tips, as well as disease causing organisms sometimes carried by them, may injure hospital and waste disposal personnel.
To dispose of syringes safely, devices have been devised that mechanically sever the syringe needles from their barrels. These are exemplified by those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,255,996, 4,445,644 and 4,969,379. Though these devices dc prevent reuse of syringes, a sharp needle stub remains intact and hazardous. Other types of syringe destruction devices grind the syringes into small pieces as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,916. These however do not provide for sanitary syringe residue disposal. Furthermore, their shearing action tends to release fluid contaminates to ambience.
Incinerators have also been used to destroy syringes is a sanitary manner. Bulk incineration of accumulated syringes however poses the threat of injury still occurring during accumulation and incineration input. Thus, portable devices have been used which can incinerate the needles by passing an electric current through them. This approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,934 and 4,965,426. However, these devices leave the barrel portion of the syringe with an opening at one end through which contaminates may emerge to ambience. Furthermore, some pathogens contained within the needle and expelled from the syringe during insertion are not killed by the incineration process. Thus, another type of portable device has been devised which crimps the needle prior to passing an electric current through it to seal it. This type of device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,178. A drawback of this device is that an electric current large enough to burn a long needle oftentimes causes a short needle to explode rather than burn. This explosion of the needle can allow pathogens within the needle to escape unharmed, often in an aerosol form. On the other hand, a current appropriate for a short needle may take too long a time to burn a long needle, if it does so at all.
It thus is seen that a need remains for a method and apparatus for destroying syringe needles in a more effective and efficient manner. It is to the provision of such that the present invention is primarily directed.